Kasey and Evan in Germany

After a solid week of France, Kasey and Evan were ready for some hearty food and lots of beer. Matt and I were happy to oblige.

The first night we took them to Eisgrub, which is where we took my parents. It's the one with the big beer tower. I didn't get a picture (I have several already), but they seemed to enjoy the 5-liters we had, as well as the sauerbraten and gorgonzola schnitzel. 

On the way back, we decided to catch part of the France game at the Mainzer Strand, the beach!

The next day, we went to check out the Marksburg Castle. We managed to just catch the English speaking tour and saw all kinds of medieval awesomeness:

Hanging out in the wine cellar

Kitchen - they also rent out the space for medieval parties!

 Tiny bed.

At the end we grabbed some lunch. And ran into people who were not only French, but also from Connecticut and had people and places in common with Kasey and Evan. Small world.

That night we headed over to Wiesbaden to watch the (somewhat boring) Germany-USA game. Wiesbaden is a highly concentrated area of English speakers, specifically Americans, so it was quite an experience.

It was pretty crowded outside so we found a spot inside to watch the game and have some pre-dinner drinks.

I really didn't care much about the game... to me, it was only a placeholder before dinner at Okinii, one of my favorite restaurants here. It's an all-you-can-eat Asian tapas place, and you order 5 items per round - on an iPad. They've got everything from sushi, spring rolls, chicken teriyaki, grilled veggies - you name it.

Some of us were slowing down....

And Kasey (silly Kasey!) decided to order plain rice. Don't fill up on rice, Kasey! (She insisted it was the right decision). We were all pretty miserable afterwards, but that's to be expected. As one of our friends says frequently, you don't go to Okinii to enjoy it, you do it to see how much you can stuff your face.

The next two days we spent in Belgium, but upon our return, we got back into the German way of life. I really wanted to make sure they went to a festival while they were here, since my parents loved what they called the "river fest" in Mainz, so I was happy to find that Frankfurt had one, with a more international spin.

Places were selling burritos, Thai food, Indian, Argentinean, Italian, etc.

Kasey and Evan were more excited about the German grub, namely bratwurst.

And one of the most delicious flammkuchen ever!

I also got Kasey involved with the Aperol Spritz...the Italian stand guys were making really good ones.

And Evan got this awesome ham and potato salad plate.

A fun day all around... it was a smaller festival that what we typically go to, but I enjoyed it. There weren't a ton of people which made it even more pleasant.

The following day we went to the grocery store. I know that sounds lame, but we find foreign grocery stores to be pretty awesome - there are a ton of products you just don't find back in the U.S.

We wanted to make sure there we hit another German restaurant for lunch, so we strolled through Mainz and over to one of our favorite places. Evan got the sampler plate and Kasey got garlic cream schnitzel. Mmm.

Kasey and I quickly browsed a store while the guys were paying and we found these - it's sauce for PET FOOD, people! How cool!

After lunch we continued our walk and got these nifty bridge pictures, similar to what I have of my parents trip, and had another drink in a biergarten.

Sadly, all good trips must come to an end sometime. Kasey and Evan headed back to the states for more traveling and to see their sweet doggie Bear.

The last order of business?

Bavarian breakfast - white sausages, pretzel, sweet mustard and beer.

Oven-warm pretzels are the best.

Come back soon, you guys!!

Highlights from Kasey and Evan's trip!!

My sister Kasey and her boyfriend Evan finally made it! We had a blast and did a ton of stuff - they were coming from France where they had already spent a week together, and Evan had been there even longer. He's a French teacher who was chaperoning a group of kids from his school. I think we convinced them the beer is much better in Germany (and Belgium).

Here are some of the highlights - more in subsequent posts:

Their first beers after arriving via train.

Touring a castle on the Rhine river

Watching the Germany-USA game at a bar

 Okinii! Yummy yummy sushi and other Asian treats!

 At the Mardsous Abbey

 Blonde beer + ham + melon

 Old German jeep.

Chocolate Belgian waffle in Belgium

 Their first festival wurst!

 Isn't she cute?

 Overlooking Mainz.

Johannisnacht Weekend 2014

The Johannisnacht Festival is the highlight of the summer here in Mainz, with a giant carnival/food/drink extravaganza. They set up along the bank of the Rhine river and everything spills into the center of town as well. Luckily it lasts all weekend, and even runs into this evening as well, ending with fireworks. Last year I was flying back to the U.S. which caused me to miss all but the first day, so I was excited to experience more of the fun this time around.

Matt and I have gone every day. It's been awesome.

The first day we split a roast beef sandwich, with some kind of tomato-y sauce on the roll. Great sandwich all around.

Next we wanted to try the "spiciest currywurst in the world." There were various levels of heat we could try, and their corresponding scoville ratings. Matt settled on level 5 out of 7 (they went up to 10, but they were so hot that they explained they were not allowed to sell it!).

Matt asked for it in German, and upon hearing it, the lady immediately switched to English and said, quite dubiously, "that's pretty hot, are you sure?" And she continued to smirk the entire time she prepared it (and fries for me - I wasn't too terribly interested in this level 5 business).

I mean, they have the sauces of death all lined up here...

Check out the amount of sauce that currywurst is covered in. Totally ridiculous. Even more ridiculous? It was so hot that my husband "I'm-from-Texas-and-love-spicy-food" Matt was only able to eat maybe 25%.

And I tried one piece. It was a stupid thing to do. I was careful not to get it anywhere near my lips. But my tongue still burned. The fries were really great though - and yes, that is ketchup AND mayo. Mayo on fries is huge here and I am totally a convert.

One of the ways we got the spice out was with some drinks. After walking it off for awhile, Matt and I had a beer (for him) and Aperol Spritz (for me).

Much better than that currywurst. Bleh.

I meant to get a picture when this was full, but Matt and I later shared some noodles while we listened to a band with John and Susan.

The band was really good, too. It was what I'd call a Bavarian rock band in that they had two guitars, drums, and the main guy was killing it on an accordion. Lederhosen were worn as well. Nice.

Mmm, wine.

The second day we had plans to meet up with a group of people and I had a hankering for currywurst that was NOT the spiciest in the world. Much tastier, too. Mayo + ketchup = good times.

 I stuck to weinschorles the entire day, while Matt had wheat beers.

After hearing about Matt's experience with the spicy currywurst, John had to try it too. He made it much farther than Matt and even finished it (with a little help from some of our unsure friends), but it should be mentioned that the amount of sauce that Matt had was much more than what John got. I took a picture of him as he was eating it, but I'll spare you all from seeing how painful and sweaty he was. Even still - a valiant effort.

Later during the day we got our raclette. It's a delicious treat of slowly melting and bubbling cheese that is scraped off the top of a large block and gingerly placed on a crusty baguette slice. No picture - these are often devoured immediately.

Here's a few shots from the top level where things are a little more calm and less crowded. We found a nice shady table and bench and hung out for awhile, sharing some pretzel with spundekas.

 Remember how I said I was sticking to the weinschorle? Well... not so with some of our large group. Someone discovered how delicious the long island iced teas were at the stand nearby, and buzzed picture taking soon ensued.

On the way back from the fest that evening, Matt expressed interest in a ham sandwich, while I gobbled up another portion of those noodles. This is him getting some mustard.

 Schinken = ham

 Definitely really hammy.

The next day (yesterday), Matt and I took it easy and actually got stuff done around the house (namely for me, I made some great progress on my grad school project). To reward ourselves, we went back out and had dinner at the fest.

Matt started with this. It was a garlic cheese bread.

The weather was yet again great, so the place was packed.

Mmm, cheesy.

Speaking of cheese, I had been wanting kasespatzle, the dish that my Dad didn't know he would love and so I had to force him to try. See what you're missing out on, Dad? This was a great batch.

Washed down with a glass of sekt as well.

Can anyone identify this one? I know it's not that much to look at, but I had passed far too many crepe stands not to get one with Nutella drizzled inside. Just superb.

Matt opted for the little doughy balls with powdered sugar on top.

We also hung around to hear some music. Two of the places where we tried were having technical difficulties, but these guys eventually got it together. Too bad it wasn't that good.

I wonder what I'll have for dinner this evening before the fireworks. Hmmm....

Hope everyone has a great week, happy Monday!

Also note: No posts until next Wednesday. Gotta get ready for my sister's visit!

Full re-cap on Monday of the fest!

Johannisnacht is starting now! Everything is setup and just about all stands are open. I'll take more pictures (and hopefully the sunshine comes out) but yay! Here is just one sliver of the action... it's all up and down the river.

Happy weekend everyone (and summer solstice)!